It is known in the art relating to roller valve lifters, particularly those used in diesel engines in highway trucks, to use a bronze shaft to journal the roller cam follower. The shaft is ordinarily pressed or staked into opposite openings of a transverse bore extending laterally through the roller end of the lifter to maintain the roller in a recess or pocket formed in and opening through the end of the lifter body. The recess is surrounded by a cylindrical portion of the body forming, in effect, a skirt for bearing against a bore of an associated lifter gallery.
In order to extend the wear life of such roller lifters, especially those used in diesel engines where soot in the lubricant may increase wear, use of a larger diameter bearing journal is desired. However, installation of the shaft through the transverse bore limits the shaft diameter to something less than one half the diameter of the associated lifter skirt.